


Just Before

by Floranna



Category: Dragonlance - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 14:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8848372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Floranna/pseuds/Floranna
Summary: It had been five years, but the journey to meet their friends was long.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tonepoem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonepoem/gifts).



> My beta reader was the awesome karanguni, thank them! Oh, and I read all the books in my own language, so if some translations are odd, that's the reason. I don't think there are any, but just in case.

Caramon and Raistlin had departed from the Mad Baron's company few days ago and were travelling as fast as they could towards Solace to meet their supposed friends for the promised meeting. Raistlin had received a donkey as a gift for saving Baron's life, and rode it while Caramon walked next to him.

The blatant showing of his own physical weakness made Raistlin seethe, and he had been on a foul mood for the whole trip. Even Caramon had stopped talking after few miles.

They were walking through a thick forest when they both heard a quiet cry. It sounded like a rabbit that had been trapped in a snare; it reminded them at once of how little they'd had to eat recently. Caramon's stomach started to growl. Raistlin let out an impatient breath. They, or in fact, Caramon, had been surviving on whatever dried rations they had purchased before leaving, which he could himself barely choke down on a good day. The thought of having fresh rabbit enticed him enough that he turned his donkey towards the sound. Caramon let out a small whoop, and went forward with a new enthusiasm in his steps.  

When they got closer, Raistlin realized that there was no way that was a sound of a rabbit. Caramon’s brow was furrowed as well. What they were hearing was a young child.

They exchanged looks. Caramon was looking at him, pleading with his eyes for them to help, but Raistlin hesitated and said: "It is probably nothing. We should leave it alone - wouldn’t want to burst in and scare the life out of whoever it is…."

The crying continued, fading and gaining strength in turns. Caramon's frown deepened. "That doesn't sound like a child trying to fall asleep to me."

Raistlin listened closely and considered. "No it doesn't."

They both moved quickly towards the origin of the sound. Soon they reached a small ramshackle cottage. The cries were quieting down, like the child was reaching its limits.  No other sounds could be heard coming from inside.

Caramon knocked gently on the door.When there was no answer save for the crying, he opened the door carefully.

The cottage was small; it had a bed, a kitchen nook, a table with two benches, and a child's cradle. Even in the darkness, they could both see a small head covered with black hair sitting in the cradle. Raistlin stepped inside, when he saw an adult body lying on the other bed, hidden in the shadows and unmoving. Caramon walked towards the bed, and exhaled in surprise. "Raist, she is still alive!"

Raistlin started and rushed towards the bed and put his hand on the figure’s forehead. It was burning. He rummaged through his medicine pouch and ordered Caramon to get a fire going.

When the fire had been set, Caramon offered to try to find something for the baby and the woman to eat. He'd have to hunt - the rations they had were dry foodstuffs and too hard for either the child or the sickly woman. Raistlin nodded. Their rations were too teeth-breaking for the original occupants to eat. Rabbit stew would be far better. Satisfied to see that the water bucket was full of clean, if stale, water, he carried it towards the bed and wet some clean rags to wipe down the woman.

She was unresponsive. He would need to tell Caramon to draw cold water from the well; she was still very warm. When he finished mixing the medicine and tried to feed it down her throat, she was unable to swallow. Raistlin took the rest of the medicine and turned it into a lotion instead

As he was working, Caramon came back in holding a pair of rabbits. His gaze swept through the room and he laid his prize on the table and immediately picked up an empty bucket and went out to get water for the stew. When he again returned, Raistlin had finished with his concoction and was spreading it on woman's skin. It would not heal her, but if they were lucky it would do  enough that she would be able to manage food, drink, and medicine. Raistlin rasped an order to Caramon to start skinning the rabbits so they could all eat.

Now that he had a moment, Raistlin  looked more closely at his patient. She was probably in her mid-thirties, with calloused hands indicative of hard living. Still, she didn’t look malnourished, so whatever hard luck had fallen down on this family was recent.

There were some men's clothes in the small closet, but no shoes. Someone lived here but was away on a trip, probably. Or maybe he had left completely, but Raistlin doubted that. The man's winter cloak was in plain view, well-worn and well-mended but in a good condition. Raistlin guessed that he was  a woodcutter. Raistlin's own father had been one, and he recognised the signs. The woodshed here was full, and they weren't far from a well-known logging camp. His own father had taken long trips, alone or when hired, and there was simply not enough driem meat for the man in the house to have been a hunter.

He now considered the baby. It was a toddler, and wore only a soiled diaper. It had fallen into an exhausted sleep, unable to move from the fatigue.  Raistlin started to boil water as he waited for Caramon to finish. He also searched for a clean diaper cloth. When he found one, he lifted the baby on the table and started to change... her, it seemed.

When Caramon finally arrived from getting water, he had long finished and was making more of the medicine with the baby gaining more and more strength to cry. Caramon immediately got to work, adding the meat into a pot over the fire , and looked at Raistlin in askance.

"Help me sit her straight so I can get her to drink."

It took awhile until they managed to get her swallow even a small cup of water and medicine. When they finished, the stew was done.

Caramon offered to feed her, and Raistlin was happy to accept. The stew was finally soft enough to be eaten by toothless gums, and Caramon fed her carefully, taking long breaks so as not to upset her stomach. SHe quickly fell to an exhausted slumber.

Caramon and Raistlin looked at each other. They both knew that they would be staying here until the woman was well.

***

The woman awoke the next day but was still clearly delirious. They managed to get her eat and drink a bit more, but she spent most of the day sleeping. The babe, on the other hand, was far more energetic, and her babbling filled the cottage and soon started to give Raistlin a headache. Eventually, Caramon took her outside to tire her out with some enthusiastic playing.

This continued for a few days, the woman getting slowly better until her deliriousness gave way. She looked at them, her rescuers, eyes clear and surprised. Raistlin gave her a thin slash of a smile, seeing the panicky unease settle on her face. She was looking at his red robes and golden skin, both of which belied his otherworldliness. When her eyes met his, he saw her flinch at his hourglass-shaped pupils.

Before she managed to say anything, Caramon burst in holding the giggling toddler. When the girl saw her mother, she screeched loud enough to make even Caramon wince and reached towards the woman.

"Innie..." the woman rasped out. The baby, Innie, let out another joyous screech as Caramon put her in the woman's arms, backing  away and started to blabber an explanation. “We're not here to hurt you - we just heard crying, and so we investigated and found this cottage, saw you and decided to help. My brother saved your life! We have been staying here for several days.” The woman was still looking at them bemusedly, but slowly her gaze was starting to fill with gratitude as Caramon continued droning on.

Elleire coughed little and said: “ I am grateful for all of your help. My husband is a woodcutter and he has to spend long periods of time away from home. I fell ill so quickly and I couldn’t get any help.” She frowned in worry. “Timmen was supposed to arrive already, he is never this late!”

Raistlin and Caramon's eyes met. They both knew the dangers of woodcutters’ work. If he wasn’t often late like this, something must have happened. Raistlin pushed the memory of his father's mangled body aside with difficulty, and offered to stay and help until Elleire had fully recovered. Her answering relief gave him deep satisfaction, and he quickly hid his smirk.

They continued like this for several days, Elleire slowly gaining strength and Innie apparently taking her first steps, if Elleire's whooping was to be believed.

They were just preparing to leave to check on the nearby logging camp, Elleire finally being recovered enough,  when an old cart rattled loudly into the yard. A man jumped down and started to help slightly green faced man with a large bandage around his head off. When Elleire saw the injured man, she screamed "Timmen!" and ran into his arms.

After long, teary greetings they learned that there had been an accident, and Timmen – Elleire’s husband – had been hit by a falling tree and had fallen unconscious. No one was able to inform her as the crew was new and none of them had known where he lived, and that he was terribly sorry and so on.

Raistlin was getting tired of all this fuss and climbed on his donkey's back and departed towards Solace. Before they got far, Timmen ran to them tearfully thanked them for saving his wife and daughter.

Raistlin started to feel annoyed at his continued talking, so when the man finally stalled to take a breath, he interrupted and said: “We are already terribly late for a meeting and must depart.”

Caramon smiled. “We are supposed to meet our friends. We all gave a vow to meet them after five years in the Inn of the Last Home in Solace! It‘s a village in the south, with these massive vallenwood trees. I haven’t seen them for years, the trees and the friends, and I quite miss them…” Timmen's eyes started to glaze over, and they started to travel towards Solace's direction.

  
Behind them they could hear Elleire's calling out, telling them not to be strangers, but soon she was muffled by the forest. They carried on.


End file.
